Conrad has a broad range of commercial experience, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, restructures and business succession, insolvency, and Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) compliance.
Conrad has particular experience in advising international clients on the acquisition and establishment of Australian businesses (including compliance with Australia’s foreign investments regime).
Conrad’s experience and technical expertise in commercial law also enables him to provide advice to clients in a variety of industries over a broad range of matters relevant to their day to day operations including business, asset and share acquisitions and disposals, shareholder agreements, joint venturing, and the documentation of operational arrangement such as supply and distribution agreements.
Conrad enjoys working closely with clients and their other advisors to find the most commercial means of achieving the client’s business objectives.
M&A
- Advised the owners of international logistics and supply chain management specialist ACA International on its sale to Dachser.
- Acting for the vendors in the restructure and sale of Rockdrill Services Australia, national mining services and manufacturing services group, to Atlas Copco.
- Acting for the voluntary administrators and deed administrators of the Godfreys Group, on the sale of the Australia and New Zealand business.
- Advising a child care operator on the development, sale and acquisition of numerous child care centres.
- Acting as a trusted advisor to the Dyson Group of Companies, one of Australia’s largest privately owned passenger bus groups, since 2008, including in relation to the acquisition of more than a dozen government contracted line-of-route and charter bus operations, a range of commercial agreements and in relation to Dyson’s long term (10 years +) Metropolitan Bus Services Contracts with the Department of Transport in Victoria.
- Acting for four large public hospitals on the Victorian government mandated amalgamation of their pathology services to create a stand-alone joint venture entity, including providing corporate, commercial and regulatory advice.
- Advising Baxters Food Group, an international family owned food manufacturing business headquartered in Fochabers, Scotland with operations in UK, Poland, Canada and Australia. In particular advising Baxters in relation to three acquisitions in Australia.
- Advising the owners of Burson Automotive (now Bapcor) on the sale of the successful automotive aftermarket parts business, comprising 94 stores in Australia, to Quadrant Private Equity who later listed the company.
- Acting in a number of significant mergers, re-organisations and changes of entity type in the not-for-profit space.
- Acted for administrators and liquidators in relation to numerous distressed assets and business sales.
Foreign investment regulation
- Advising custodians and trustees on FIRB-related issues.
- Acting for a number of major foreign diversified property development and real estate companies in relation the Australian foreign investment regime approval aspects of multiple significant land acquisitions and developments.
- Acting for property developers, wind farm developers, logistics companies and major fuel station operators in obtaining FIRB exemption certificates to undertake land acquisition programs.
- Acting for various state-owned enterprises, private equity investees, listed and unlisted corporate groups, and managed investment and real estate investment trusts in relation to their investments in Australian businesses, companies and assets.
- Acting for foreign investors in relation to compliance actions undertaken by FIRB.
- Through his work, Conrad regularly deals with officers of the Foreign Investment Division of the Federal Treasury in respect of all matters that require foreign investment notification.
Awards
Conrad was awarded the Victorian Law Foundation Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award in 2005.